Saidal Wardak Feats Bounty Shootout

Event #7 of the 2009 Aussie Millions featured one of the most unique formats on the tournament circuit. The $1,650 No-Limit Hold'em tournament was a bounty event, with one player at each table sporting a bounty tag around their neck. Whoever could eliminate the bounty player collected AUD$1,000 prize on the spot, sprinkling extra payouts throughout the field. To further add to the action, players were given only 20 seconds to act on each hand, with no extensions. Once the field thinned to 32 players, the format shifted to a four-table shootout, with the final two survivors from each table earning a seat at the final table.

The unique format and potential for large profits drew a whopping 449 entrants to the event, with plenty of big named bounties, including David Saab, Lee Nelson, Julian Powell, James Obst, Michael Vartan and Peter Aristidou. Also in the field were players that had already logged a lot of success at the 2009 Aussie Millions including Van Marcus, Billy "The Croc" Argyros and Michael Guzzardi. The first bounty player eliminated from the event was Julian Powell who busted in the first level. Saab joined him on the rail soon after, as did Michael Vartan, who's AsQh didn't front up against pocket aces. The early levels were tough on the bounty players, as Peter Aristidou, Mike "Timex" McDonald, and James Obst also headed to the rail. 

Day Two was like two tournaments rolled into one, starting with the remaining four tables playing a shootout format that would see two survivors from each table advancing to the eight-handed final table. Once the last shootout table was finished, players took a short break and came back to a final table to play in a freezout format where players were limited to 20 seconds per decision to act. that looked like this:

Seat 1: Edison Nguyen - 429,600
Seat 2: Sean Keeton - 170,200
Seat 3: Neil Channing - 346,900
Seat 4: Cort Kibler-Melby - 292,800
Seat 5: Liv Boeree - 122,000
Seat 6: Saidal Wardak - 211,600
Seat 7: Ben Delaney - 285,000
Seat 8: Jai Kemp - 337,000

After a grueling shootout, resulting in a 2:1 chip count with Ben Delaney and Saidal Wardak, Wardak faught back and came through with the goods to get the AUD$151,200 first place prize, Delaney's $1,000 bounty and the $4,000 Aussie Millions championship ring. 

Links:

Crown Poker Photo Gallery | PokerNews Introduces the Final Table | PokerNews Interviews Saidal Wardak